Steam-boiler or water-heater



ZSheets-She'et I.

1-1. B. TATHAM, J1.

(No Model.)

STEAM BOILER 0R WATER-HEATER. Y Patented Jan. 29, 1895.

girl- INVENTR WITNESSES 5MM/ POUM (No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

H. B. TAT-HAM, Jr.

STEAM BOILEE 0E WATEE EEATEE.

No. 583,326. Patented Jan. 29, 1895. l

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UNITED STATES ,PATENT Darren.

HENRY B. TATHAM, J R., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM-BOILER OR WATER-HEATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 533,326, dated January 29, 1895.

Application filed December 26, 1893. Serial No, 494.789. (N o model.)

To LZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, HENRY B. TATHAM, J r., a citizen of theUnited States, residingin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Steam -Boilers or Water- Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a steam boileror water heater having a lamp as the source of heat and intended for various domestic uses such as the heating of Water for toilet or kitchen purposes or for radiators, the heating of coffee urns or the like, or the generation of steam for heating purposes, or for running small engines or pumps.

The main object of my invention is to so construct such a steam boiler or water heater as to utilize to the fullest extent the heat from the burner of the lamp and to prevent the deposit of carbon in the form of soot upon the bottom or sides of the water vessel. These objects I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l, is a vertical section of a steam boiler or water heater with sufficient of a lamp burner to illustrate my invention; and Figs. 2, to 9, represent various modified constructions embodying the main feature or features of my invention.

In Fig. l, A represents a central-draft tubular-wick lamp burner which may be of any ordinary construction, and suitably mounted above this burner is a water vessel B, which, in the present instance, is intended as a circulating boiler, being provided with Water inlet pipe a and outlet pipe b, although, as will be apparent hereinafter, various forms of water vessels maybe employed without departing from my invention.

The vessel B has, at the bottom, a central depending water leg or disk D which communicates freely with the interior of the vessel B and, as shown in Fig. 1, has outwardly flaring sides and a slightly curved or rounded bottom. This water-backed disk D is of such a diameter in respect to the wick tube of the lamp and bears such vertical relation to the top of said wick tube, that it serves as a deflector for the llame and is within the circumferential limits of said iiame, so that the outer edges of the latter will rise around the sides of the disk as shown, care being taken, however, that the disk projects sufficiently beyond the bottom of the vessel B that, when the flame is at its normal height, that is to say,

as high as it can be maintained without smoking, the upper edges of the dame will not touch the bottom of the vessel. By this means I prevent any deposit of carbon in the form of soot upon the bottom of the vessel and thus overcome a serious objection to the use of a lamp as a means of heating.

Extending upward through the Water vessel, beyond the circumferential limits of the disk D, are a series of tubes d, which serve to convey the heated products of combustion from the flame through the water vessel and thus materially aid in heating the Water therein.

Such portions of the heated air or products of combustion as do not pass upward through the tubes d, rise around the water vessel and between the same and an outer casing or jacket F, said heated air or products of combustion finally escaping into a hood G mounted above the water vessel and having a chimney G with suitable damper G2, so as to provide for t-he necessary draft, although in cases where the water heater is of considerable height, this hood and chimney may be dispensed with. The hot airvjacket F may also be dispensed with, if desired, although its use is preferred for the purpose of utilizing to the utmost all of the heat developed by the iiam'e of the lamp. An inverted conical hood F" eX- tends from the lower portion of the jacket F to the burnerA and serves to prevent the access of any cold air to the chamber around the top of the burner so that the only air which can gain access tothe tubes d or hot t air jacket F is that which has been brought into intimate contact with the llame of 'the burner and has been intensely heated thereby, while the only air which can gain access to the disk D is that which enters through the central draft tube of the burner and is 1kewise intensely heated by direct contact with the flame. t

In order to insure the intimate contact of the air with the outer surface of the flame, as well as to throw said flame toward the disk D, I prefer to provide the burner A with a flaring shield f, which extends upward and IOO outward in close proximity to the under sur face of the annular flame, as shown in Fig. 1.

When it is desired to eect the rapid heating of the water the vessel B may be so constructed as to contain but a limited volume of water. For instance in Fig. 2 I- have shown a construction in which the vessel B has an annular body provided with internal `circulating pipes d' and b', the hot air tubes d passing up through the annular body of the vessel, and in Fig. 3 I have illustrated a construction in which the water vessel is in the form of a coil B2, the depending disk in this case being in the form of a close horizontal coil D', one end of which receives the water from the supply pipe a2, the other end communicating with the lowermost convolution of the coil B2, the uppermost convolution of the latter discharging through a pipe b2. When this construction is adopted it is pret'- erable to mount upon the coil D a flanged cap plate g so as to prevent any draft which might otherwise be caused through the coil D by reason of the spaces or channels between the convolutions of the same.

The depending water-backed deiiecting disk may also be used as a means of heating and causing the circulation of water in reservoirs disconnected from the disk eXceptby means of the circulating pipes. For instance in Fig. 4 I have shown a coiled disk with l langed cap, such as shown in Fig. 3, this disk receiving its supply of water through a pipe 0,4 from a reservoir B4 above the same, vthe heated water being discharged into the upper portion of the reservoir through a pipe h3, and in Fig. 5 I have shown an annular water chamber B5 having a central draft passage or iue d2 through which extends a pipe b4, serving as a means of conveying the heated Water from the disk D3 to the upper portion of said annular vessel, said disk receiving its supply of water through the pipe a5 communicating with the lower portion of said annular vessel. A

In some cases the products of combustion may be carried away from the upper end of the air jacket by means of a side pipe G3, as shown for instance in Fig. 6, the water vessel B there shown having its upper portion enlarged in diameter. The use of the central chimney is preferred, however, wherever such is possible. f

Various forms of deflecting disks may be adopted within the limits of my! invention.

For instance, in Fig. 7 I have shown a disk D4 of semi-spherical form, and in Fig. 8, a cyylindrical disk D5, while in Fig. 9 the disk D6 is of an inverted conical form.

Although I have described, and in all cases prefer to use a central draftburner having an annular wick and forming an annular flame, my invention may be used in connection with other forms of burner in which the llame is capable of spreading. For instance, I may use a duplex burner forming two flames having an air supply betweenl them, so that they can be deflected respectively to the right and left by the action of the disk of the water vessel. Hence the phrase tubular burner in the claims is intended to cover such modified construction. In all cases however the central supply of air must be such as to form an air film between the flame and the bottom of the water backed disk, or bottom of vessel so as to prevent any contact of the flame therewith and any deposit of soot thereupon.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secu re by Letters Patent- I. The combination of the lamp having a tubular burner, with the water vessel having at the bottom a water leg provided with a disk Yor bottom of a diameter within the normal circumferential limits of the lamp llame and occupying such relation to the burner as to .serve as a defiector for said flame, a pocket for the extreme edge of the flame being formed above and beyond the edge of the disk or bottom, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the lamp having a tubular burner, with the water vessel having 'at the bottom a water leg provided with a disk or bottom of a diameter within the circumferential limits of the lamp flame, and occupying such relation to the burner as to serve as a deflector for said flame, the bottom of the vessel and the sides of the water leg forming a pocket for the extreme edge of the Iiame, said water vessel having one or more lines communicating with said pocket and serving to convey the products of combustion through the water vessel, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY B. TATHAM, JR. Witnesses:

FRANK BECHTOLD,

JOSEPH H. KLEIN. 

